If the FBI Nails News Corp. It'll Be for Bribery, Not Hacking

As federal investigators probe News Corporation over allegations its employees hacked into 9/11 victims phones, it's starting to look like they won't find anything, but the FBI thinks it's got a good case to make in regards to bribery charges instead, Reuters reports.

As federal investigators probe News Corporation over allegations its employees hacked into 9/11 victims phones, it's starting to look like they won't find anything, but the FBI thinks it's got a good case to make in regards to bribery charges instead, Reuters reports.

The Tuesday story cited FBI sources who said the bureau was stepping up its investigation into charges that employees of the Murdoch-owned media company bribed foreign officials, but "U.S. investigators have found little to substantiate allegations of phone hacking inside the United States by Murdoch journalists." That kind of makes sense, considering the frustration from 9/11 victims at getting any updates on the investigation into phone hacking, and the charge in Britain that a News of the World editor told a reporter to bribe a prison guard. We've known about the FBI's investigation into News Corp since July, but the bureau's been pretty evasive so far about providing details about exactly what it wants to charge News Corp. with. It now looks likely the charges will have to do with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal to bribe foreign officials such as police and, yes, prison guards.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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